Nitrox

[Charles2]

I was there in June and dove with Pro Dive Mexico. Nitrox was free on every dive. https://www.prodivemex.com/?gclid=CI2llM6p6scCFdgXgQodP9sKqg

 

[Reidkon]

We have booked the Tamarindo room on the first floor.
We definitely are hoping to have breakfast before we dive but not sure its doable when most dive ops want you to arrive by 7:30 or 8:00.

As long as we're digressing from the OP's original question, I'm chiming in. I love Mi Casa! I stayed there last winter and will be staying there again this year in a different room. When looking for a dive shop, check out their morning dive times if the free breakfast is important to you. Because I chose an earlier leaving dive shop, I was unable to take advantage of the free breakfast (started at 7:30 I think?) Do you know what room you're staying in? Enjoy!

 

[mstevens]

That's one of the reasons we don't use "most dive ops". I'm much more of a "meet the boat at 9:30" sort of person.

Nitrox isn't "free" anywhere. It might be "included at no additional charge", but that's not the same as "free".

 

[Doppler]

When those diver using air pay the same price as those divers using nitrox, I call that free. What do you call it?

I appears that the dive ops in Bonaire made the investment up front for membrane systems so it doesn't really cost them any more for EAN than air. I believe most EAN on Cozumel is still PP blended so it cost the producer more for O2 and labor.

Some of the southern resort op that pump their own gas may offer free EAN.

I call it nitrox at air-fill prices... Not free.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[kelemvor]

So it sounds like there are at least two places in Coz giving free nitrox (or including it in the regular rate if you want to look at it that way). Iberostar (Dressel Divers) and Pro Dive Mexico.

I guess you could compare the regular rate with free nitrox to the regular rate of other shops to see if it really is a good deal or not.

Maybe it's free, maybe it's "no extra charge". That stuff is semantics. If the price of diving with nitrox at these two shops is the same as the price of diving without nitrox at other shops, I'd personally describe it as free.

 

[mediumone]

Of all the criterion that I would use to choose a dive op "free" nitrox would be at the absolute bottom of the list.

 

[Skittl1321]

Of all the criterion that I would use to choose a dive op "free" nitrox would be at the absolute bottom of the list.

Yep!
If I dove nitrox it might sway me between two otherwise equal options, but there are just too many other things on my list that are important to me.

 

[kelemvor]

In my opinion it's more a factor of the total cost of my trip. If I was doing 3 dives a day for 6 days and paid $10 a tank for nitrox, that's an extra $180 I tacked onto the trip's bottom line. If I am diving with a shop that includes it, I don't have to add the $180.

Maybe you don't care to dive nitrox, but some of us do. It adds up to a not necessarily insignificant cost.

It's hard to compare prices in coz because a lot of ops do the shady "email us for pricing" thing.
Here's two (based on rates published on their websites):
Two tank trip, both tanks nitrox
Aldora Divers: $113
Pro Dive Mexico: $85

Now, it's entirely possible that Aldora includes a "fast boat" with that price. I dove with Dive Paradise when I was last in coz and they had one rate for a "regular cattle boat" and another slightly higher rate for a small fast boat. It's possible that prodive sucks, and aldora is great. I don't know that stuff, I've never dove with either. I have seen a lot of "every operator on cozumel is good" type of posts. If you want nitrox, ignoring operators that offer free nitrox is not a smart move in my opinion. It should simply be factored into the price of your trip.

Now if you're not diving nitrox, aldora is only $8 more than prodive instead of $28 more for that same 2-tanker. That means it's possible Aldora is a good deal for an air diver, but not so great for nitrox divers given the difference in cost.

 

[Skittl1321]

Two tank trip, both tanks nitrox
Aldora Divers: $113
Pro Dive Mexico: $85

Is this the same size tank? I don't think you are comparing apples to oranges (in addition to all the other mixed fruit involved: gear valet, fast boat, etc)- so it isn't the same 2-tanker.

I don't know Pro Dive but I would suspect they use Aluminum 80s like most ops. Aldora uses steel 120s (though maybe not for nitrox? I don't know). That is a lot more air.


The point does stand that nitrox adds quite a bit of cost; but I think those other factors (fast boat, wide variety of sites, dive your own tank, valet service, etc) really do make a difference. Is "free" nitrox the most important thing if you have to pay for all the others?

 

[mediumone]

$180.00 is nothing if you're with a mediocre DM, (who I've had the misfortune to dive with), or worse, a certifiable drunk jackass (who I've also had the misfortune to dive with). They're both still active DM's. No, I won't disclose who they are.